Forming the Wax Sheets, 309 



TO SECURE THE WAX SHEETS. 



The wax should be melted in a double walled tin vessel, 

 with watei- between the walls, so that in no case would it 

 be burned or overheated. 



To form the sheets a dipping board of the width and 

 length of the desired sheets, is the best. It should be made 

 of pine, and should be true and very smooth. This is first 

 dipped into cold water — salt in the water makes it easier to 

 remove the sheets — then one end is dipped quickly into 

 the melted wax, then raised till dripping ceases — only a 

 second — this end dipped into the cold water, grasped by 

 means of a dextrous toss with the hands and the other end 

 treated the same way. The thing is repeated if necessary 

 till the sheet is thick enough. Twice dipping is enough 

 for brood combs, once for sections. We now only have to 

 shave the edges with a sharp knife, and we can peel off 

 two fine sheets of wax. This is Mr. Jones's plan, and is 

 better than to dip only one end of the board, as in that 

 case the wax runs down the board and the sheets are 

 thickest at one end. With the device of Mr. Jones the 

 wax runs to the ends, and to make the middle as thick, the 

 board is lowered in the melted w^ax below the center. At 

 Mr. Jones's I saw one man dip the sheets as fast as two men 

 could run them through the machine. Mr. Heddon, who 

 has used nearly all of the roller machines, thinks Given's 

 press can be used more easily and rapidly than any of 

 them. This seems to me hardly possible, yet we must 

 remember that the press puts the foundation right into the 

 wired frames. Surely Mr. Jones's accomplishment with 

 the Dunham mill leaves little to be desired. Of course the 

 press can only make thin sheets, as the wax sheets are 

 thin, while with the roller machines we can reduce the 

 thickness by simply approximating the rollers. 



For cutting foundation, nothing is so admirable as the 

 Carlin cutter (Fig. 122, a), which is like the wheel glass- 

 cutters sold in the shops, pxcept that a larger wheel of tin 

 takes the place of the one of hardened steel. Mr, A. I. 

 Root has suggested a grooved board (Fig. 122, b) to go 

 with the above, the distance between the grooves being 



